Where and when were you born Henry?

I was born in Yorkshire, in May 1936 in a little coal mining village called Brampton, near Rotherham. A place where you had to fight your way to and from school each day.

When did you begin your study of Aikido?

It was in 1957, I was studying Judo and Karate at the Abbe School of Budo at the "Hut" in Hillingdon, Middlesex. My Direct teacher was Mr Ken Williams, who was 3rd Dan (3rd degree black belt) Judo, and we were all students of Kenshiro Abbe Sensei, 8th Dan Judo, 6th Dan Aikido, 5th Dan Karate and 5th Dan Kendo. At this time no-one in the United Kingdom had heard of Aikido. Abbe Sensi told Mr Ken Willams that we had recieved a letter from O'Sensei Morihei Ueshiba, stating that all instructors outside of Japan now had permision to teach Aikido to anyone who wished to learn. Mr Williams was his first student and he selected a hardcore of Judo students to study Aikido - this is when I started.

Abbe Sensi made Mr Willams National Coach for Aikido and I became Mr Willams assistant, a post which I held for approximately 15 years. Abbe Sensi and Williams Sensi then bought eight of us special students up to 1st Dan, the only Dan grades in Great Britain at that time, and all in one dojo (place or training)! All the Dan grades were hard training and strong with no "bandage men" amongst them. Sunday morning practice was for Dan grades only and Williams Sensi would lock all the doorsto the Dojo - it was then the serious practice started, with real fighting. He would allow the younger black belts grades to try to prove themselfs against him - with out success, I might add. It was at the time that Sensi started to vist other dojos ti introduce Aikido.

I have heard that Aikido training was harder back then...

In the earley days the training was extremely difficult, with the emphasis on very strenuous exercise. My students and I used to train four ir five nights a week as well as on Sunday Mornings.

Immediately after talking the students running for several miles, we would return to the mat and perform 200 press-ups on the backs of our wrists,which was then followed by general practice and a further two hours of hard practice. Abbe Sensi's Aikido was the pre-war style of Aiki Jutsu, which was very physical. Both Abbe and Williams were excellent teachers - they worked very hard to train us, whilst promoting Aikido to a rather unreceptive public.